Tag Archives: brighter fires

Andy Deane & Gopal Metro founded the goth/industrial/punk mainstay Bella Morte in the mid-90’s. Gopal left the band in 2007 but he & Andy have decided that they missed writing & playing music together, so last year they started a side project called Brighter Fires. Some have likened Brighter Fires’ sound to the Bella Morte of old, which makes sense because when Andy & Gopal write together it does seem to result in a pretty distinctive style. However, they’ve also been exposed to a wider range of influences in the past 15 years, and for that matter, Andy’s voice has matured and has a wider range now too. Please note that I did not say that Andy had matured, just his voice 😉

My second job has been winding down since the middle of May, so I’ve been enjoying some relative freedom in my schedule. This allowed me to catch Brighter Fires three weekends in a row, at the Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar in Charlottesville (as mentioned in the Synthetic Division post & pictured below), at the Canal Club in Richmond, and at the Jewish Mother Backstage in Norfolk. For once, it’s nice to be appreciating a band that is currently active and located in the same country as I am! They also get huge bonus points for being friendly, passionate, talented guys! (By the way, if you use instagram, you should follow Rippingitdown for nearly live photos which I never remember to transfer to my computer so I can post here)

Although they appeal to goth clubs and refer to their music as “dark rock”, listen to closely to songs like “Glorious” and “Sever” and you’ll understand why their debut album is an “anthem about enjoying life and… stuff”.